Rouge Rovers Episode 1: New Heroes on the Block
by Rogue Rover
Summary: J and his pet white tiger, Ice Blaze, are enjoying a relaxing day at the park until the inevitable happens. All comments and suggestions are welcome.
1. Outdoor Fun

Episode 1: New Heroes on the Block

Rogue Rovers

(A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Road Rovers. They're property of Warner Bros. Sonic the Hedgehog and Dr. Robotnik are owned by Sega. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I had writing it. (You can guess where I got this from.))

Chapter 1: Outdoor Fun

"C'mon Blaze," an African American voice called from the hallway of an apartment complex.

Inside a bedroom, a large white tiger was taking a nap on the floor, until the voice of his owner called him. He pricked up his ears and slowly opened his chocolate brown eyes. He got up slowly and began to stretch, letting out a yawn that revealed his teeth. He exited the bedroom and headed down the hallway toward the room were the voice was at. He entered the living room and gave his owner a dirty look for disturbing his catnap.

The voice belonged to a male teenaged African American. He wore a red South Pole t-shirt, baggy Nautica jeans, and a pair of sneakers. He has a well built body, with short black hair and has a beard and moustache that is growing. The teenager kneeled and scratched the tiger's head.

"Sorry to wake ya up man," the teen apologized as he stood back up. "I jus' thought tha' since I had nothin' bette' to do…"

The tiger snorted to say, "Yeah right."

"I'm serious," defended the teen. "I jus' thought tha' you n' me could go to the park n' chill for a bit, n' I think you need mo' space than this apartment complex to roam around."

This got the tiger's attention as he let out a roar. The teen chuckled as he and the tiger walked to a set of elevator doors. The teen pushed a button, and the doors to the elevator opened up, letting the teen and tiger enter the elevator. The teen pushed the 1st floor button. The elevator descended to the first floor. Once the elevator doors opened, the teen and the tiger stepped out of the elevator and exited the building through a set of glass doors.

The exterior of the building resembled a rundown hotel, with cracks appearing sporadically around the building's exterior. The building's front side featured scaffolding near the top of the building, with the words "_The Hollywood Tower Hotel_". Around and below the scaffolding were dark markings, making it look like something has struck the building in the past. Two elevator shafts are partially revealed through the hole of the building. When the elevator doors open, a person could see the elevator shaft.

The teenager and tiger walked to a garage building that is located behind the tower. The teen entered the building, and the white tiger sat on the ground and waited for his master at the entrance. Inside the garage, there were numerous vehicles, ranging from cars to SUVs. The teen stuck his hand inside his pocket and pulled out a car remote control. He pushed a button, and a voice was heard throughout the building.

"Hey! I know you didn't jus' turn off the alarm! You jus' waitin' for someone to jack your ride, don't ya? Don't be callin' the police when I get stolen now!"

The voice came from a black Hummer H2; it was a personalized message that the teen put in to make his vehicle more unique.

The teen unlocked the door to the driver side. He got in and started up the H2, shifting it in reverse and backing out of the garage. The vehicle stopped, and the teen stepped out of the vehicle. He walked toward the back of Hummer and opened the door to let the tiger in. The white tiger moved around his owner and jumped into the back of the H2. As the tiger did that, the back end of the vehicle dipped for a moment before leveling out. The teen closed the back door of the vehicle and walked back toward the driver side. He got back into the driver's seat and closed the door. He started the SUV and backed out of the driveway that leads to the backstage area of the tower. Once out of the driveway, the teen shifted to drive and headed towards the park.

A few minutes have passed, and the black Hummer H2 arrived at the park. The park featured a very hilly terrain with a playground on one side of the area. The entire park is surrounded by woods, with a walking trail running through the woods. There is a large lake in the center of the park, which is full of fish and other aquatic life.

The teen and the tiger are seen walking along a trail within the woods, enjoying the beautiful scene before them. The leaves from the trees provided ample shade, with a bit of sunlight penetrating through various openings within the leafy barrier. Various creatures are going about their normal business, while ignoring the two hikers that are traversing the path.

A squirrel, who was gathering nuts, decided to cross the path of the white tiger. This little action caught the tiger's interest and began to pursue the little creature. The squirrel looked up from its previous goal and noticed the tiger bounding towards its direction. The nuts fell to the ground as the squirrel ran away from the big white tiger.

"Come back here Blaze!" called the teen as he chased the tiger through the woods.

The tiger went off the trail as he pursued the helpless little creature. The teen ran after the tiger until he tripped over a tree root. Once the teen got back up and dusted his self off, he lost sight of his tiger.

"Ice Blaze!" the teen called out through the dense woods. "Where is tha' tiger?" He continued to walk farther into the woods until he heard a noise. He stopped and looked behind him. From behind one of the trees was Ice Blaze. "There you are man. Wha' was the big idea of runnin' of the trail like tha'? Don't blame the squirrel eithe'."

The tiger gave an innocent look to his owner as he walked back to the teen and started rubbing against him like a giant house cat. The teen laughed as he patted the tiger's head. The two attempted to find their way back to the trail but ended up getting lost. The teen and tiger stopped for a moment to take a break. The tiger's ears pricked up for a moment, which caught the teen's attention.

"Wha's the matte' Blaze?" the teen asked with concern in his voice. "Did ya hear somethin'?"

The tiger began to survey the area and also sniffed the air. The scent the tiger picked up was rather peculiar to him. Since curiosity got the best of the tiger, he decided to investigate the smell.

"Did ya pick up somethin'?" questioned the teen as he followed his pet.

As the teen began to follow the tiger, a group of shady figures are seen crouching on a few branches within the trees. Upon closer look, the figures were clad in ninja garments made of dark material. Their heads were covered, and the only things that can be seen from their hoods were their eyes.

"Are those two our targets?" asked one ninja in an oriental voice.

"Yes," replied a second ninja, but this one had a female oriental voice. "They match the description perfectly."

"So when should we move in?" asked the first one, watching the teen and tiger.

"We'll move now," replied the female ninja.

A big group of ninjas dispersed into two smaller groups and disappeared into the foliage of the woods. The teen and tiger were oblivious to what was happening at the moment.

"Blaze, you bette' not be sendin' us on a while goose chase," the teen said, as he continued to follow the white tiger.

The white tiger continued to pursue the peculiar scent until he came to a bush. The tiger stopped, and he stuck his fight forepaw into the bush. A split second later the tiger roared as he reeled his paw back. The teen rushed toward tiger and noticed blood coming from the tiger's paw.

"See," the teen began. "Curiosity got the best of ya didn't it?"

The tiger ignored his owner's comment and began to growl at the bush.

"Wha's wrong?" the teen asked, getting even more concerned.

He inched closer to the bush and pulled away the leaves to reveal…

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" the teen exclaimed in disbelief. "You got all worked up ove' a piece of clothin'?" He looked at the tiger. "You're losin' your touch, Blaze."

"Actually," a male oriental voice from behind the two spoke. "His sense of smell is fine because you two have fallen into our trap."


	2. Ambush

Chapter 2: Ambush

The teen turned around and saw a ninja standing there.

"Whatchu talkin' 'bout 'our' trap?" the teen questioned the ninja.

"We have you surrounded," the ninja replied.

"The only thing tha' is surroundin' us are these…Ow! Wha' the…?" the teen just got struck in the right arm by a ninja star. He pulled it out, and blood dripped out from his arm. "Where did tha' come from?"

After the teen said that, a group of ninjas dropped down and surrounded the teen. Another group surrounded the tiger.

"You're coming with us," said the ninja.

"N' if I don't?" the teen retorted.

"We'll make you," the ninja replied.

"If it's a throw-down y'all want, then you'll get a throw-down," the teen said, getting into a fighting stance.

The ninjas began their attack on the teen and the tiger. In the teen's battle, two ninjas from either side threw ninja stars, and the teen bent backwards as the ninja stars flew over him, heading toward the two ninjas.

"Keanu, eat your own heart out," the teen said as he stood back up.

However, the two ninjas dodged before the ninja stars struck them. A few ninjas charged at the teen at the same time. One reached out to grab the teen's arm, but the teen dodged just in time to strike the ninja in the face with his elbow, knocking the ninja down for a moment. He crouched down to the ground and did a spinning low kick, tripping three more to the ground. He jumped to his feet.

A ninja unsheathed a katana and charged at the teen. The teen saw the ninja just as it swung down on the teen. He nearly missed the swing of the katana, but the ninja was slightly faster as it quickly swung back up and struck the teen in the chest with the blade. The teen screamed in pain and fell to his knees, clutching his chest as blood spewed out of the opening and stained his t-shirt to a darker shade of red. The teen slowly rose to his feet, panting slowly and glaring at the surrounding ninjas.

"Did you have enough?" the ninja asked, smirking at the injured teen.

"Are you…havin'…fun…makin' clichés?" the teen said breathlessly, glaring at the ninja.

"Don't worry. This will all be over soon," the ninja replied as he threw some kunai in the teen's direction.

Due to loss of blood, the teen couldn't dodge them fast enough and some of the kunai struck him in the arms, legs, and the chest. Again he screamed in pain and dropped to the ground. He tried to get back up but collapsed to the ground, sending the kunai deeper into his body. He cried out again. His panting increased, and his vision began to get blurry. With a significant amount of blood already loss, he lost consciousness and blacked out.

"One down and one more to go," the ninja said. He turned to the others in his group. "Let's get his body."

In Ice Blaze's battle, the white tiger brought forth a struggle as the ninjas made futile attempts to stick a syringe into the tiger. The tiger did a donkey kick with his hind legs at two ninjas that were behind him in their chests, sending them flying toward a tree and knocking them unconscious. He scratched a few more, but he failed to land a swipe at the female ninja, who was faster than every other ninja in the group.

The female ninja was slightly faster than the tiger, and she held a syringe that was filled with a tranquilizing fluid that will knock the tiger out. She evaded the tiger's strike with ease and jumped to his right side and stuck the syringe into the white tiger's neck.

Ice Blaze roared as the needle made contact with his skin and began to stagger around. His vision of the surrounding area blurred. He blacked out and collapsed to the ground.

"Nighty night, kitty," said the female ninja with a smug look on her face, even though her face was covered up. She looked at the others in her group, who were mildly injured. "Let's get this tiger and the two unconscious ones."

Once the two groups of ninjas regrouped, they hauled the teen and the white tiger to a clearing. The ninjas placed the two on the ground. The male head ninja grabbed a communicator and spoke into.

"Khalil," began the ninja. "This is Takato. We have the targets."

"Excellent," an African American voice replied. "I got the location of your communicator. We'll be comin' there in a moment."

"Okay," Takato responded and looked at the female head ninja. "Khalil said he'll be here in a moment, Ayame."

Ayame nodded her head. A few moments later, a military helicopter made its descent to the ground. The helicopter was pitch-black in color with white lettering on the sides. The letters on the side spelled: GEN-PAR Inc. The left side of the helicopter slid open, and a male African American teenager stepped out. The teen featured a well built body with cornrows and dark skin. He wore a black short sleeve t-shirt that says, "People think I'm crazy", black baggy jeans, and black skateboard shoes.

"I see you were able to get 'em down n' out," said the teen.

"The human gave my group some minor problems, but we were able to knock him out, Khalil," Takato said.

"I told you he was goin' to put up a fight," replied Khalil as looked at the unconscious teen on the ground and noticed the blood. "Shoot, you even bloodied him up some too. Good job."

"I aim to please," Takato replied as he bowed.

"Suck up," muttered a ninja.

"I heard that," Takato said, shooting the other ninja a look.

"Let's get these two into the helicopter and head back to base," Ayame said with her arms crossed.

One group of ninjas grabbed the unconscious teen and the tranquilized white tiger and dragged them toward the helicopter. Once the two were loaded into the helicopter, the ninjas got situated, and Khalil got into the pilot's seat. He pushed a button to close the door. He pressed another button to start up the helicopter. The rotors came to life, and the aircraft lifted off. The helicopter turned right and flew off into the horizon.


	3. Trapped in a Mutated Body

Chapter 3: Trapped in a Mutated Body

A few hours have elapsed, and the GEN-PAR Inc. helicopter landed on a helicopter pad at a military base. The base is made up of several buildings in the center, a power station located at the far upper right section of the area, and the barracks are located to the left side of the group of buildings. The buildings in the center contained the communications room, lab, holding cells, and a command center. A perimeter fence with barbed wire at the top of the fence surrounded the entire perimeter of the base. Guard towers are also placed around the base with searchlights pointing in various directions.

The helicopter door opened up, and Khalil and the ninjas exited the helicopter. A group of soldiers approached the group. The soldiers were dogs in humanoid form with a muscular body, wearing army fatigues.

"I have two test subjects in there that need to be taken inside," Khalil ordered the canine soldiers. "The human needs to be taken to a cell, n' the white tiger needs to go to the lab. Make sure y'all put tha' cat into a cage tha' is big enough for him to fit but small enough so tha' he can't move around."

"Yes sir," the soldiers replied and saluted.

"General Parvo would have kittens when he finds out about Khalil brought in a cat here," said one soldier.

"Yeah," replied another soldier. "Look what happened to The Groomer when she brought some in."

"Hey!" yelled Khalil. "Stop yakkin' n' start packin'!"

The two soldiers saluted and followed the others into the helicopter to carry the teen and tiger into the base. One group of soldiers grabbed the teen and carried him into the building. Another group carried Ice Blaze into the lab section of the main facility.

A few minutes has passed. Within a holding cell, the teen laid on a bed with his torn t-shirt on the floor. The teen has been bandaged around his chest, arms, and legs. The holding cell that the teen is currently in is in a lurid state. The only light source within the cell is the old light fixture in the center. The light occasionally flickered, and the fixture sparked out as well. A mildewed caked toilet sat in the upper right corner of the cell, with a sink, with a leaky faucet, next to it. The pipe under the sink is rusty and also leaky with a constant drip of water. Mold has built up around all the walls in the cell. The bed that the teen is currently lying on is on the left side of the cell.

The teen groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. He attempted to move around, but the pain from his wounds prevented him from making any sudden movement. He opened his eyes and noticed that he is in a cell.

"What happened? Where am I? Why am I here?" the teen asked himself.

"I can answer those questions cuz," replied a voice. "You were captured by a group of ninjas. You're in a secret base, n' you n' your precious tiger are goin' to be my test subjects."

"I kno' tha' voice," the teen said to himself.

"Well ya should J 'cause I am your cousin," came the reply.

"Khalil," J said with venom in his voice.

"Ding, ding, ding," Khalil said. "Tell the genius wha' he has won."

J rolled his eyes and slowly got up to see his cousin but also two more people. The first person was a white male with a muscular built body, wearing a black sleeveless shirt, khaki pants, black boots, and a metallic helmet. He had blonde moustache as well. But the most distinct features on this man were the robotic arm and leg on the left side of his body. The other person was a female with a slender body, long black hair, wearing a metallic helmet, a red and black jumpsuit, with black gloves and boots. J took one look at the guy.

"Did you kno' tha' you took Julian Kintobor's look?" J asked the man. "How did ya get those robotic parts anyway? Did ya step into his stolen invention and got rescued by the fastest thing alive?"

"Will you stop askin' my employe' nonsense questions," ordered Khalil.

"Why? Am I goin' to make ya insane in the membrane?" J asked, disregarding his cousin.

"I jus' said stop it!" yelled Khalil.

"I ain't deaf. I heard ya the first time," J replied. "I'm glad I'm on this side of the bars because I don't wanna catch your lunacy. Speakin' of lunacy…how did ya get outta tha' mental institution?"

"It was the help of my employe' n' his assistant ove' here," Khalil replied, motioning toward the two. "I like you to meet General Parvo n' the Groomer."

"Okay, why…," J began before he was interrupted.

"Enough of these questions," Parvo said and looked at Khalil. "Do you need your cousin alive for your experiment?"

"Yes n' in one piece," replied Khalil and looks at J. "He's a little bit damaged, but it won't be a hindrance to my project."

"Excellent," Parvo said. "When will you get started on your experiment?"

"I can get started right now if ya want," answered Khalil, with an evil gleam in his eye.

The Groomer walked over to the wall on the right side of J's cell and inserted a key card into a slot. The card reader read the card. A clicking noise followed, unlocking the cell door. She opened the door. Khalil entered in and grabbed J by the arm. He dragged J out of the cell, without letting J retrieve his bloodied shirt on. General Parvo and the Groomer watched the two cousins down the hall. They departed the holding cell area to the command center to oversee their organization's latest plans.

The two cousins walked through various hallways throughout the base. At the moment, J decided to submit to his cousin without a struggle. Khalil led J to a set of double doors with the words EXPERIMENTATION LAB above them. The two entered the room.

The lab is huge with various computer terminals along the walls with rows of desks in the center of the lab. Upon the various desks were lab equipment, ranging from papers to flasks and test tubes. Also along the walls were cabinets filled with other lab equipment and other things. On the right side of the lab is a door that leads to a hallway. Khalil dragged J to that door.

Once the two were through the door, the hallway featured numerous doors, leading to different experiment rooms. Khalil opened a door and pushed J into the room, knocking J down to the ground. J groaned as pain surged through his body when he fell; he landed on his chest very hard. Khalil laughed at his cousin.

"Now cuz," Khalil began. "Would you kindly sit in tha' chair right there."

"Do I look like a genetically born slave to you?" J sarcastically asked his cousin.

J walked over to the chair that was located in the center of the room. A moment later, two canine soldiers entered the room and forcefully sat J into the chair. They strapped him into the chair very tightly, making him short of breath and cringe in pain from the gash on his chest.

"What…are those…things…anyway?" J indicated to the soldiers.

"Oh. They are canomutants," replied Khalil. "They're the creations of General Parvo. These two help me out in the labs." He turned around and headed toward the door, but he stopped and turned back to the two soldiers. "Watch him until I return."

"We will sir," replied the soldiers.

"Like I'm goin' anywhere," J muttered under his breath.

Khalil left the room and back into the lab. A few minutes later, he returned to the room with a vial that contains a blue liquid. He went to a table and picked up a syringe. He stuck the syringe needle into the vial and extracted some of the fluid.

"Okay, wha' is in tha' syringe?" J questioned his cousin, who is still filling up the syringe.

"My little experiment tha' I've been workin' on for quite some time now," replied Khalil, holding up the syringe to his cousin. "This," he indicated toward the syringe, "Can rearrange any organic organism's genetic structure. In your case, this formula will permanently change you into a canosapien. N' this is only part one of the plan."

"So wha's part two?" asked J.

"I was getting' to tha'," responded Khalil. "Afte' your transformation, you'll be sent to a special cano-mutator tha' will eradicate your free will, becomin' one of Parvo's new soldiers."

He walked over to J, who struggled in the restraints. Khalil's two assistants came over as well and forced down J's arms and legs to prevent him struggling. With the syringe in hand, Khalil looked at his cousin.

"Lemme get one last look my human cousin," he said mockingly. "A'ight now, this won't hurt…me a bit, but I'm not sure 'bout you though."

Khalil picked a vein on J's neck and jammed the syringe into his neck. The blue liquid entered into J's body. J screamed out of pain as the liquid surged through his body, rearranging his genetic code. The pain was so unbearable to him that he closed eyes and began twitching.

The first thing to happen to J was that his skin began to become furry. A tail slowly formed on the back side of J. His ears began to disappear from the side of his head and reappeared on top of his head, and his ears were now erect. The front of his face began to extend, forming a muzzle. After a few minutes, the transformation was complete, and J was now a canosapien.

J now has dark brown fur throughout his entire body with the exception of his muzzle and lower part of his tail, where it is light brown. He looked like a shiba inu but more rugged looking. His body is still same, but he is now limp after the transformation.

"Take him back to his cell," ordered Khalil. "When he wakes up, we'll take him to the lab n' let him watch his precious kitty become a felomutant before his very eyes. Afte' tha' it'll be his turn."

"Yes sir," the two canine soldiers saluted.

They unstrapped the restraints, and one soldier grabbed J's legs while the other grabbed his arms. They carried him out of the room and back to his cell.


	4. Science with a Heart

Chapter 4: Science with a Heart

At the other side of the facility, there was another lab. In this lab there were four chamber-like devices located on the far side of the lab. There are rows of tables situated in the center of the lab with lab equipment. There is a large computer terminal that sits on the adjacent wall to the chambers. On the other side of lab, a cage sat against a wall.

Inside the cage resided Ice Blaze, who is still unconscious. The tiger remained motionless for a few more minutes until he began to open his eyes. He scanned the area and realized that he was inside a cage. He stood up, but he banged his head on the top of the cage. The cage he was in was just big enough for him to fit but not to move around. He realesed a snort and laid back down, taking in his surroundings.

While he was surveying the room, the door to the lab opened up, and a scientist entered the room. The scientist is a white male, who is probably in his early twenties, with dark brown hair and well built body. He wore a white lab coat with a white shirt and jeans underneath the coat. He also wore a pair of lab boots. The tiger watched the scientist as the scientist sat down at a table. The scientist looked through a file that was sitting on the table and let out a sigh.

"I can't believe I'm even doing this," said the scientist sadly as he continued to look through a file. "I thought…"

The scientist paused in mid-sentence as he got the feeling that someone was watching him. He looked over his shoulder and noticed that Ice Blaze was watching him. He stood up and went over to where the cage was sitting. Ice Blaze saw this and started to growl, warning the scientist to stay away from him. The scientist stopped for a moment as the white tiger growled at him, but after thinking for a moment, he resumed his walk toward the cage. Ice Blaze continued to growl and started to show his teeth. The scientist stopped a few feet in front of the cage and crouched.

"Poor thing," he said. "They got you locked up in such a tiny space. I know that tigers need a lot of space."

The tiger stopped growling and flashing his teeth as he heard what the scientist said. The scientist took this opportunity to get closer to the cage, and he held out his hand. Ice Blaze tried to move back as far as he could from the scientist, but he couldn't.

"I know you probably don't trust me," said the scientist. "But I'm not going to hurt you."

He continued to coax the tiger, and Ice Blaze finally sniffed the hand. While he was sniffing the scientist's hand, the scientist placed the other hand on the tiger's head and began to scratch behind the tiger's ear, making Ice Blaze purr. The scientist smiled and stood up. He moved to the front of the cage and unlocked the door. Ice Blaze pushed the door open with his muzzle and crawled out of the cage. He limped over to the scientist, who was crouching down, and licked him in the face. The scientist chuckled as he was getting licked.

"This is the first time I have actually encountered a white tiger," said the scientist, scratching the tiger's head. "Applying for a job here was huge mistake on my part."

Ice Blaze looked at the scientist with a curious look on his face. The scientist saw the tiger's perplexed expression, and he then looked down and noticed the dried blood on the tiger's paw.

"I'll be right back," the scientist said as he stood up and headed toward a cabinet.

He opened the cabinet and retrieved a bottle of rubbing alcohol, antibiotics, cotton pads, and bandages. He closed the cabinet and came back to Ice Blaze. He sat down in front of the tiger. He took the rubbing alcohol and placed some onto the cotton pad, and he took Ice Blaze's injured paw in one hand and applied the cotton pad onto the paw. Ice Blaze growled from the burning pain of the alcohol.

"I'm sorry about that," the scientist apologized. "But I had to clean your wound."

He placed the cotton pad on the ground and applied antibiotics on the wound. He retrieved the bandages and wrapped the tiger's wound. After he finished wrapping the paw, he placed the paw back on the ground.

"There you go," said the scientist.

Ice Blaze looked at his bandaged paw and then at the scientist, and he licked the scientist's face as a thank you. The scientist laughed and patted the tiger on his side. The scientist heard footsteps coming toward the lab. The scientist began to panic, and Ice Blaze realized that he needs to get back into the cage before whoever it was on the other side came in and saw a tiger in the open. The scientist scrambled with the medical supplies and disposed the used items, while Ice Blaze entered the cage in reverse. Once the scientist replaced the medical supplies into the cabinet, he goes back to the cage and locked it so that no one will know that the tiger was ever out his cage. He returned to his workstation before Khalil entered the lab.

"Jeremy," Khalil called to the scientist. "Get the canomutator prepared for the tiger."

Jeremy turned around on his stool and looked at Khalil and says sadly, "I will."

Khalil turned around and headed right back out but stops. He looked at Ice Blaze with a sadistic smile on his face.

"In just a few hours," Khalil began. "You'll no longe' have your free will, n' you'll be servin' in General Parvo's army in world domination. You'll be the fiercest of 'em all. Parvo may even conside' you as one of his second in commands."

He turned back toward the door and left. Jeremy sighed and got up from his workstation. He walked over to Ice Blaze's cage and crouched down to the tiger's eye level. He reached in and gave the white tiger a gentle. Ice Blaze understood the dilemma that Jeremy is in.

"I'm so sorry," Jeremy said with a sigh, looking sadly at the tiger in front of him. "If only there was a way to…"

He stopped for a moment and got up from his spot. He walked over to the computer began to do something. Ice Blaze watched the young scientist from within the cage.


	5. Escape from Mutation Central

Chapter 5: Escape from Mutation Central

A few hours have passed, and the doors to the lab opened, revealing Khalil and his two assistants, who were carrying a now conscious J, with his shredded and stained shirt on. Ice Blaze saw the group walk in. He looked at the canosapien in the middle with curiosity.

"Jeremy," said Khalil. "Is the canomutator ready?"

"Yes it is," replied Jeremy, looking up from the computer terminal.

"Good," Khalil said with pleased tone in his voice. "Unlock his cage n' send tha' cat into the canomutator."

Jeremy walked over to the cage and unlocked the door. Ice Blaze crawled out of the cage and gave Khalil a death glare. He walked with Jeremy over to the cano-mutator that is going to be used on him. Jeremy pushed a button, and the door to the chamber opened. Ice Blaze cautiously stepped up to the door and stopped. He looked at Jeremy, and Jeremy gave a wink to the tiger. Ice Blaze reluctantly stepped into the chamber, and the doors closed behind him.

"Activate the canomutator," ordered Khalil.

Jeremy moved to the terminal and activated the machine.

"In a few moments, my dear cuz," Khalil began with an evil smile. "Your precious tiger will be no more."

As the machine began the transformation process, Ice Blaze roared in pain as the chamber filled with smoke and electrical currents. After a minute, the chamber began to shut down. A hissing noise was heard as the doors to the chamber began to open, releasing the smoke and revealing a figure.

"Behold," exclaimed Khalil. "The ultimate felomutant soldier this organization has eve' seen."

A tall muscular figure stepped out of the chamber. The figure was Ice Blaze in felosapien form. Everything in the transformation process went well as planned, except for one thing.

"Oh man! I wish I was Ray Charles right now 'cause tha' sight is uncalled for!" cried J as he quickly shut his eyes from the disturbing sight in front of him.

Everyone in the room, except for Ice Blaze, covered their eyes.

"I knew I had forgotten something," Jeremy said out loud, but he quickly covered his mouth with his hands.

"So, you altered the programmin' of the canomutator didn't ya?" Khalil questioned the frightened scientist in an angry tone.

Khalil headed over to where Jeremy was, and he formed a fist with his right hand. He was about to strike when a strong furry hand grabbed his wrist.

"I think you bette' think twice on who ya mess wit'," said an African American voice.

"Who said tha'?" Khalil asked, looking behind him to see Ice Blaze standing there. Khalil tried to say something, but he's too shocked to say anything.

"You mess wit' him, n' you mess wit' me," Ice Blaze said as he began to squeeze Khalil's wrist.

Khalil cried out in pain from the sheer strength of the white tiger. Ice Blaze continued to squeeze Khalil's wrist until he heard a crack. Khalil screamed as he grabbed his broken wrist. Khalil took a moment to look at his two assistants.

"Wha' are you two waitin' for?" asked Khalil. "Get…!" Khalil's order was interrupted as he got knocked out by a punch by Ice Blaze.

The two soldiers released J and rushed toward Ice Blaze.

"Watch out," said Jeremy. "Those canomutants are tough but don't hurt them. They're ordinary dogs."

"I'll keep tha' in mind," Ice Blaze said as he got into a fighting stance. "A'ight you two, let's see how tough ya'll really are."

The two canomutants charged after the white tiger felosapien. The first canomutant swung his left fist at Ice Blaze's face, but Ice Blaze ducked and performed an uppercut under the canomutant's jaw, sending it flying into the computer terminal. The second canomutant kicked Ice Blaze's feet from beneath him, causing the felosapien to land on the floor. The first canomutant got up from where he landed and joined his partner again in the brawl.

While the fight was going on, Jeremy cautiously made his way over to J, who was sitting on the ground, watching the battle and breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?" Jeremy asked with concern in his voice.

"I'm just short of breath from where those two dropped me to the ground," replied J. He then looked at Jeremy and extended his hand. "Thank you for foilin' my cousin's plan."

"Khalil's your cousin?" Jeremy said with a confused look on his face.

J sees the confused expression. "I was mutated into wha' I am now."

"I'm sorry about that…uhh…I don't mean to be rude but what is your name?" Jeremy said.

"Name's J," replied J.

"My name's Jeremy," Jeremy said, extending his hand to the human turned canosapien.

"Nice to meet ya," said J.

"Likewise," acknowledged Jeremy.

As the two finished the conversation, the brawl between Ice Blaze and the two canomutants continued. J saw this, and he slowly rose to his feet. He is breathing very hard, but he ignored his shortness of breath so that he can help his friend. Jeremy noticed that J is staggering as he walks.

"Are you sure you okay?" Jeremy asked with concern for his new friend.

"I'm sure," replied J with a weak smile on his face.

J walked over to a workstation and grabbed a stool. He went over to where the fight is taking place. Ice Blaze punched the first canomutant in the face, making it fall to the floor unconscious. Ice Blaze saw J coming with a stool, which is raised above his head.

"Hey, wha' are you doin'?" Ice Blaze asked.

"There's a time to fight clean, n' there's a time to fight dirty. This…," J said as he brought the stool down onto the second canomutant's head. "Is a time to fight dirty."

The canomutant dropped to the floor unconscious. After J brought down the stool onto canomutant, he dropped the stool, and since he used all his energy knocking the canomutant out with that blow, he collapsed and passed out onto the floor. Ice Blaze walked over to J's body and rolled his body onto his back. As he rolled the body over, he noticed that this canosapien had the same clothing as his owner. He looked up at Jeremy and motioned for him to come over. Jeremy came over to the felosapien.

"Jeremy," began Ice Blaze as he motioned to J's unconscious body. "Who is this?"

"He's your owner," replied Jeremy. "He said that he was mutated into a canosapien by his cousin."

"Khalil did this to him?" Ice Blaze asked.

Jeremy nodded his head sadly.

"We need to get outta here," Ice Blaze muttered. He looked at Jeremy. "Is there anyway outta this place?"

"There is a secret hallway behind that wall over there," Jeremy replied, pointing toward a wall next to the canomutators. "That hallway will lead you outside the perimeter of the base." He whispered into the tiger's ear, "If I were you, I head into the woods that are a few miles from here. It will provide good coverage from Parvo's search party."

"I will," said Ice Blaze, nodding his head.

He crouched down and picked up J's limp body. He stood up, carrying the unconscious canosapien bridal-style, and began to walk toward the wall that contains the secret hallway before Jeremy stopped him.

"Wait," Jeremy said. He moved to one of the canomutants and took the pants off him. He tossed the pants to Ice Blaze. "Here take these. At least you'll be a little decent."

"Thanks," Ice Blaze said as he placed J on the ground and put the pants on. He picked J back up again. He stopped and turned towards Jeremy. "Why don't you come with us?"

"I wish I could," said Jeremy. "I need to stay here because if they find out that I went missing, they'll be after me, which will also ruin your escape. Besides I'm willing to deal with whatever punishment they issue to me."

"I understand," replied Ice Blaze. "One of these days, we'll come back n' get you outta this place."

"I'll be waiting," said Jeremy. "Before you go, what is your name?"

"My name is Ice Blaze," Ice Blaze said with a smile on his face. "See ya soon, Jeremy."

"You too, Ice Blaze," Jeremy responded. "And tell J 'You're welcome' for me."

"I will," replied the tiger as he found the hidden passageway. "Thanks for everythin' Jeremy."

"You're welcome," Jeremy replied, watching his new friends disappear into the passageway. Jeremy goes over to the passageway and closed the door behind the tiger. "Please be safe you two."


	6. Stranded

Chapter 6: Stranded

Inside the passageway, Ice Blaze carried J's limp body through the dimly lit passageway. The only sources of light within the passageway were the LED lights on the floor.

"Man this is some poor buildin' plannin'," he muttered to himself. "Luckily, I'm a cat n' can see in poorly lit areas."

He continued down the passageway until he saw a ladder. He shifted J's body onto his right shoulder and climbed up the ladder. Near the top of the ladder was a door. Ice Blaze paused and opened the door. He took J off his shoulder and placed him on the sandy ground. He then climbed out of the hole in the ground and closed the door. He covered the door back with sand. He looked around and noticed the base a few yards away. He grabbed J's body and hurried away from the facility, hoping that he doesn't get spotted by anyone from the base.

After a few hours of walking numerous miles through the scorching desert, Ice Blaze arrived at the woods. He entered the woods and searched for suitable spot to lay J down so that he can find some water. He didn't have to look far when he heard the sound of running water nearby. He placed J down by a tree and headed toward the source of the running water.

The white tiger approached a stream. He got down onto his hands and knees and drank from the stream. After he gets his drink, he returned to the spot where he left J. Upon his return, J slowly regained consciousness. Ice Blaze crouched next to J.

"How are you feelin' master?" Ice Blaze asked with concern in his voice.

"Seen better days," he replied as he tried to get up, but he fell back down.

"Take it easy," Ice Blaze said. "C'mon lemme help you get to the wate'."

"Thanks, Blaze," J replied weakly as slowly got up with the aid of Ice Blaze.

"You're welcome master," Ice Blaze said, placing J's left arm around his neck for support.

"Jus' call me J," J said with a smile.

"A'ight," Ice Blaze said as he guided J toward the stream so that he could get a drink.

Ice Blaze lowered J down gently so he could get to the water easily without having him experiencing any pain. J drank to his heart's content. After his drink, the duo went back to their rest area. Ice Blaze gently lowered J down into a sitting position, and he looked toward the setting sun.

"I'll be back," Ice Blaze said. "I'm goin' to look for firewood."

J nodded his head at the tiger. Ice Blaze searched throughout the woods for decent firewood. Ice Blaze returned with an armload of firewood. When he sets it down, he noticed a circle of rocks in the middle of their rest area.

"Did you do this J?" Ice Blaze questioned his friend.

"Yeah, but I took my time to gathe' all of 'em n' placed 'em in a circle," J replied weakly.

"You should be reservin' your strength for tomorrow," Ice Blaze said as he set the wood into the center of the circle.

"Yeah you're right," J said.

After a few attempts, Ice Blaze got a fire built. He sat down across from J. The two were looking at the fire and reflecting on the events that had happened so far.

"Hey J, do you kno' where we're at?" Ice Blaze asked.

"Sorry, I have no clue," he replied. "Hopefully we'll find a town soon."

"Yeah," Ice Blaze agreed. After a brief pause, "How are ya feelin' now?"

"Still sore from tha' gash in the chest," J replied.

After a couple of hours, the duo decided to go to sleep. As they slept the fire diminished until there were embers in the circle. The night went by with no events occurring.

That morning, Ice Blaze ventured to the stream to capture some fish for breakfast. He rolled up the pants legs and waded into the water. He stood in the middle of the water watching the fish swim by, waiting to find a fish suitable enough to eat. A big fish swam by Ice Blaze's right leg. He extended his claws on his right hand and caught the fish in one swift motion; he did the same thing to another fish of the same size.

He left the stream with the two fish in his hands. He sat down by the bank and prepared the fish for breakfast. Once he finished prepping the fish, Ice Blaze returned to the campsite with the clean fish in hand. He found a stick and placed the fish on the stick. He handed the fish on the stick to J so that he can restart the fire. After the fire was rekindled, J placed the fish over the flames, so they could cook. The fish were finished cooking after a few minutes, and they began to eat.

"Do you think you can make it today?" Ice Blaze asked.

"I probably have enough strength jus' to walk," he replied, placing his finished breakfast on the ground. "Gettin' up would be the problem."

"Don't worry, I'll help you wheneve' you need it," Ice Blaze responded, placing his finished breakfast on the ground.

Ice Blaze got up and extinguished the fire. He walked around the extinguished fire and helped J up to his feet. They then set out to find a nearby town. They left the woods and found a road.

"Well at least we found a road," J said with hope in his voice.

"Yeah, I wonder how far the nearest town is," Ice Blaze said in wonder.

"We'll find out eventually," J answered.

Ice Blaze nodded his head in agreement. They followed the road to wherever it will take them. The heat from the sun took its toll on J, since he is far more injured than Ice Blaze. J began to feel his energy depleting from him, and a moment later, he collapsed onto the ground. Ice Blaze stopped and picked up J and carried him on his back.


	7. Stowaways Discovered

Chapter 7: Stowaways Discovered

An hour has passed, and Ice Blaze spotted something in the horizon. He squinted and blinked his eyes to make sure it wasn't an illusion.

"J, is tha' a town up ahead?"

J slowly lifted his head and saw what Ice Blaze was talking about.

"I believe so, Blaze."

"It won't be long. Hang in there."

Ice Blaze used all his strength he had in his body to get both of them to the town. It took him thirty minutes to get to the town. The first thing Ice Blaze saw was a gas station. He placed J against the wall, and he sat down next to him. He started to survey his surroundings. The thing that caught Ice Blaze's attention was a large black jet parked at the gas station. On either side of the jet was a red circle with a barking dog in the center of the circle.

"J is tha' jet real or am I seein' things?"

"I don't think it's a mirage 'cause I see it too."

"Should we go inside it?"

"If it has AC, then I say go for it," answered J. "Can you help me up?"

Ice Blaze helped J up to his feet, and the two headed for the black jet. The jet's door was left, and Ice Blaze let J enter first. He followed him afterward into the aircraft.

The interior of the aircraft featured a flight area with two rows of three seats, with the front two seats reserved for the pilot and copilot. The back part contained the cargo hold area. In this area, there were crates in various sizes throughout the area. J and Ice Blaze looked around the jet until they heard voices. Ice Blaze helped J to the back of the jet, and they hid behind some crates. They listened as the voices got louder as whoever it was were getting closer to the jet.

At the entrance of the jet, a golden retriever entered the aircraft followed by a collie, a husky, a doberman, and a sheepdog. Everyone except the sheepdog wore an armor suit that was mostly silver with a bit of blue in various places. The golden retriever walked to the front of the jet and sat down at the pilot's seat, and the collie sat next to the retriever in the copilot's seat. The doberman sat behind the collie, while the husky sat behind the retriever. The large sheepdog sat behind the husky.

"All right Rovers. Let's go home," the golden retriever said.

All the canosapiens let out a howl as the engines of the jets came to life. The jet's tires began to leave the ground as the jet engines gained enough lift to lift the jet off the ground.

"Where do you think this thing is headin'?" Ice Blaze asked J in a whisper.

"I have no clue, Blaze," J replied in a whisper. "We'll find out soon enough."

"What do you think we should do?"

"I say we stay incognito for right now."

The tiger nodded his head as he sat against the wall.

The black jet gained altitude. Once the desired altitude was met, the jet rotated around, pointing southeast, and flew in that direction. Inside the jet, J and Ice Blaze heard a conversation from the front of the jet.

"Hey, pretty girlie dog," a male German voice said. "Why don't you and me go out to town, and I can show you a good time?"

"Sorry, I don't talk to strangers," a female British voice replied. "What's was your name again?"

"Blitz."

"Blitz. Blitz. No, that's not it," replied the British voice. "Let's see if we can give a new name."

"I don't need a new name," Blitz cried out. "Besides, I like Blitz. It means 'lightning' in German."

"You definitely ran lightning fastski when you ran away from Parvo's canomutants," a Russian voice said.

"You stay out of this Exile," snapped Blitz.

"I finally found a name that suits you," the British voice exclaimed.

"Colleen, I told you already that my name is Blitz," Blitz complained.

"Your name will be Dobie," announced Colleen. "Dobie the pitiful."

Everyone on the jet with the exception of Blitz laughed at his new name. Blitz's anger began to rise as he got up from his seat and pointed a finger at the collie.

"I have had it with you and your silly name games," Blitz exclaimed. "Let the biting begin."

The collie rose from her seat and looked at the doberman.

"How can you bite if you don't have any teeth?" Colleen asked the doberman.

"What are you talking about? I have all my teeth," Blitz shot back at the collie.

"Are you sure?" asked Colleen as she got into a fighting stance. "DOGBERT!! CATBERT!! RATBERT!!"

Colleen's martial arts skills sent Blitz flying into the back of the jet. J and Ice Blaze quickly hid from view as Blitz slowly regained his senses. He stood up and noticed something different about his mouth. He used tongue to check his teeth, but the only thing his tongue is felt were his gums. On the floor of the jet, the teeth of Blitz were spread out everywhere. He let out a girlish shriek as he quickly gathered all of his teeth. J and Ice Blaze peeked over the crates as the doberman gathered all of his teeth and tossed them into his mouth. He swished his mouth around for a few seconds, and he opened his mouth to reveal his razor sharp teeth are back to normal. Ice Blaze and J watched Blitz put his teeth back into his mouth with shocked expressions on their faces. Blitz walked back into the front of the jet.

"Did you see tha'?" Ice Blaze exclaimed in a whisper. "Tex Avery has nothin' on this."

"Picture if you will, Blaze. Picture if you will," replied J as he slid slowly back down behind the crate.

Ice Blaze slid over to J with a concerned look on his face.

"Are you sure you're a'ight?"

"At the moment I am," J replied.

An hour passed as the jet flew through the New Mexican desert. The aircraft flew toward a gigantic hole in the ground. The jet hovered over the hole and descended into the hole. Once the jet entered through the hole, an underground cavern is revealed with what appears to be an underground rainforest. Located in the center of the underground rainforest were several buildings in the shape of fire hydrants. The jet landed in the hangar of the facility.

Once the jet lands, the doors to the jet opened. The group of canosapiens exited the jet and headed into the main part of the building, leaving J and Ice Blaze alone in the jet's cargo hold. A few minutes pass as the duo remained in the cargo hold, waiting to see if anyone would return to the jet.

"I think the coast is clear, Blaze," J stated as he tried to get up, but he dropped back to the ground from the excruciating pain that surged through his body.

"Lemme help you," Ice Blaze said as he took his left arm and slid behind J's back and under his left arm. Ice Blaze slowly lifted J up to his feet. "Will you be okay for right now?"

"I'll be fine," replied J with a weak smile. "Let's get out of this jet now."

Ice Blaze supported J onto his body, and the two slowly made their way to the front of the jet. They exited the jet and went down a set of stairs to the floor of the hangar. They looked around the hangar and noticed numerous aircraft that are lying around. Some of the aircraft took the form of a dog, while others have teeth and other canine features painted onto them. In the middle of the hangar, a large R within a circle is painted on the ground.

"Have you eve' seen anything like this J?" Ice Blaze asked in amazement at the size of the hangar and the large number of aircraft.

"No I haven't. This is a first for me," replied J, looking around the hangar as well. He then noticed a doorway leading out of the hangar. "Why don't we go through tha' doorway ove' there?"

"Well," began the white tiger. "There is no othe' way outta here is there?"

The canosapien shook his head.

"Well let's go then," Ice Blaze said.

They walked toward the doorway and entered the hallway of the facility. The duo continued walking down the hallway until they reached a large room with a table in the center surrounded by a group of chairs. Located in front of the table is giant screen, but the screen isn't active at the moment. To the left of the screen is an elevated podium with a door behind the podium. On the ground floor, a door sat adjacent to the podium. They opened and walked through the door, entering into a long hallway. Ice Blaze adjusted J's body.

"Are you a'ight Blaze?" J asked, looking at the white tiger.

"Yeah I'm fine," he replied with a nod.

They continued walking through various corridors of the facility without seeing anyone.

"Man this place is huge," Ice Blaze exclaimed.

"I kno'," J agreed. "I wonde' how big this place is."

"No clue," replied Ice Blaze.

They continued walking down the corridor until they reached an intersection. They stopped at the intersection so that J can get some air into his system. However, their break was interrupted when the golden retriever from earlier spotted the two.

"Stop right there!" ordered the retriever, rushing toward the duo.

"Wha' should we do?" Ice Blaze asked.

"We split up," J replied, pointing to the hallway straight ahead. "You go tha' way n' I'll go tha' way."

"If you can handle it," answered the tiger in a concerned tone.

"I'll be fine," replied J.

Ice Blaze released his hold of J and ran down the hallway that J indicated, and J, using as much strength as he can, began to run down the other hallway. The golden retriever pursued Ice Blaze, while contacting backup.

"We'll be over there in a moment comrade Hunter," Exile's voice came over the communicator that was built into the dog tag that was hanging around the retriever's neck.

"This is bad. This is bad. This is bad," J thought as he ran with all of his might down the hall until he caught sight of Colleen. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Now how did you get in here?" she asked J with a warning tone in her voice.

J doesn't respond to her question. His mind wanted him to run away, but his body wished for him to stand and fight. The body won against the mind in the internal fight, and J got into a fighting stance that wouldn't be a nuisance to his injuries.

"So you want to fight don't you?' she asked. "Well, I won't go easy on you then."

"Oh snap!" he mentally shouted as Colleen delivered a flying kick into his chest.

The kick knocked the wind out of J, sending him flying a few feet and hitting the ground hard. He landed on his side, breathing really fast. He slowly got onto his hands and knees, but he collapsed onto the ground. Colleen looked at J with a look of disapproval on her face.

"I'm not falling for the fake injury trick," she warned.

J still doesn't move as he became unconscious again. Colleen then noticed a pool of blood oozing onto the floor. Her eyes went wide as she rushed over to J's body. She rolled him over and noticed the bandage on his chest, which is now covered in blood from the reopened wound.

"Oh my!" she cried out in horror. "Let's get you to the infirmary and fast." She stooped down and picked him up, rushing down a hallway to the infirmary so that he can get immediate medical attention.

With Ice Blaze in a different part of the facility, he is being pursued by Hunter and Blitz. Unknown to Ice Blaze is the fact that Exile is waiting for him at the end of the hallway. Ice Blaze ran toward the end of the hallway until Exile jumped from where he was hiding and froze the white tiger, using his ice vision. Ice Blaze is encased in ice from his neck down to his feet. Blitz walked up to the frozen cat and looked at the blue and white husky with a rejected look on his face.

"I wanted to bite the soft mushy part," Blitz complained to the husky.

"Don't be weird boy," replied Exile with a disgusted expression on his face, turning towards Hunter. "Comrade Hunter. What are we going to doski with the prisoner?"

While Hunter was in thought about what to do with Ice Blaze, Ice Blaze began using all his strength to break out of his frozen imprisonment. It didn't take the tiger long for the block of ice to crack before it finally exploded into many pieces.

"I would not have predicted this," Hunter said with a look of shock on his face.

"Well predict this Mrs. Cleo," Ice Blaze shot back as he punched Hunter's muzzle with full force, making him fly all the way to the end of the hallway.

Blitz and Exile gawked at what just happened to their leader and turned their heads to the white tiger that was cracking his knuckles, waiting for round two. Exile looked at Blitz, who was cowering in fear from the sheer strength of the white tiger, and took that as his cue to deal with the situation all by himself. Exile took a fighting stance in front of Ice Blaze as the tiger does the same.

"So you're gonna be my opponent for round two huh?" Ice Blaze asked with a smirk on his face. "This should be interestin'."

Ice Blaze rushed toward Exile with his right fist back. He threw the punch, but Exile dodged the punch, but he didn't see the uppercut that Ice Blaze delivered with his left fist. The blue husky stumbled a few feet from the blow to his jaw, but he regained his balance. Exile ran and threw a punch at Ice Blaze, but Ice Blaze caught the punch with his right hand in a quick motion.

"You're really quickski as the lightning," Exile commented the white tiger.

"Cat like reflexes," replied the tiger as he grabbed Exile's arm and swung him into the wall, which left an imprint of Exile's body.

Exile got back up panting from all the blows he had received from the white tiger. He had never fought anyone during his life with strength such as Ice Blaze's, not even a canomutant. He looked at the white tiger that has his arms crossed in front of his bare muscular chest.

"Are you givin' up? Did you have enough pain? Or do ya want more?" Ice Blaze asked.

A large white sheepdog cautiously crept up behind Ice Blaze, but the white tiger noticed the large shadow in front him and quickly turned around. He let out a roar, making the large sheepdog yelp and cower in fear against a wall.

"Tha's pitiful," scoffed Ice Blaze at the sheepdog.

"Nice one Mop Boy," Blitz added sarcastically, causing the tiger to look at him and making him cower in fear.

"I take tha' back," said Ice Blaze and pointed his thumb at Blitz. "He's pitiful. He's talkin' all tha' good stuff behind my back, n' one look from me, he's cowerin' in fear."

As Ice Blaze was talking, Hunter used his super speed and knocked the tiger down to the ground.

"Exile. Shag. Help me with this intruder," Hunter called to the husky and sheepdog.

Exile and Shag grabbed Ice Blaze's arms and lifted the white tiger onto his feet. They placed his arms behind him as Hunter placed handcuffs around the tiger's wrists.

"All right buddy," Hunter began. "You need a time out."

Hunter, Exile, Shag, and Blitz took Ice Blaze down the hallway toward the holding cells.


	8. You Got Some Explaining to Do

Chapter 8: You Got Some Explaining to Do

Meanwhile, in the infirmary, Colleen and a bloodhound that is wearing a lab coat and glasses hovered over J's unconscious body and stitched up his wounds.

"Do you know how he got in here?" the bloodhound asked Colleen.

"I have no bloody idea, Professor Hubert," replied Colleen as she lifted J's upper body so that Professor Hubert can bandage his body. "I wonder how this fella got all these wounds."

"I don't know Colleen," replied Professor Hubert as he finished bandaging up J's body.

Colleen lowered J's body back down on the operating table. She and Professor Hubert then lifted J's body unto a stretcher and wheeled him out of the infirmary's operating room and into a hospital-like room. The room contained a bed with the back against the right wall, the television is in front of the bed, a bathroom located a few feet from the bed on the right, a closet on the left side of the bed, with a couple of chairs throughout the room. They placed J unto the bed, and Colleen decided to stay with him and ask him questions when he woke up.

In the holding cell area of the facility, Ice Blaze is currently held up in a cell, lying on one of the beds that are inside the cell. He began to stare at the ceiling with a bored expression on his face. He began to mentally ask questions about the predicaments he has encountered so far in the past couple of days.

"Man, all this stuff tha' is happenin' these past two days are goin' by too fast for me to comprehend anything," he thought to himself as he closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. "How did I eve' get into this mess in the first place?" he said aloud to himself and then smacked himself in the head. "I blame tha' squirrel."

As he finished his accusation, footsteps filled the air of the holding area. The footsteps stopped in front of his cell. Ice Blaze rolled over onto his stomach to see who it was. Standing in front of the cell was Hunter. He opened the cell door, walked in, and closed the door behind him. He moved over to the bed opposite to the bed that Ice Blaze is currently lying on and took a seat. Ice Blaze raised himself up into a sitting position and looked directly at Hunter.

"I have questions that need to be answered," Hunter stated flatly.

"Shoot," replied Ice Blaze.

"I don't have a gun with me," Hunter said with a confused expression on his face. "All I want to do is ask you some questions."

"N' I said 'shoot'," answered Ice Blaze.

"I told you before," began Hunter. "I'm not here to shoot you but to ask you some questions."

"I kno'," replied the white tiger. "Now shoot."

"Dude, are you deaf?" Hunter asked. "I said I'm here to ask you some questions."

"I kno' tha' man, so…wait let's stop for a moment, back up, n' get back on track," Ice Blaze said. "You said tha' you wanna ask me some questions right?"

"Yes," replied the golden retriever mix.

"Then, I said 'shoot', right?" Ice Blaze continued.

"Right," replied Hunter. "But I…"

"I kno'," interrupted Ice Blaze as he held up a hand. "When I said 'shoot', I meant fire away."

"Fire away what?" asked a confused golden retriever mix, making the white tiger smack himself in the forehand.

"Is he tha' dense?" Ice Blaze mentally thought, staring at the golden retriever mix in disbelief. "Just ask the questions before I get you more confused than I already have," he said aloud.

"I think you got it backwards," began Hunter. "You are the confused one."

"If I tell him anymore, his head will eventually crack," Ice Blaze mentally thought and then said aloud, "Just ask the questions."

"Finally," said Hunter. "Alright, how did you get in here?"

"Well, me n' my maste' stowed away in y'all's jet," replied Ice Blaze.

"Why did you two do that?" questioned Hunter.

"Because," began Ice Blaze. "We have been out in the heat for ove' a day, runnin' from my maste's cousin, who works for someone who is bent on world domination."

"Parvo," Hunter muttered with disgust.

"Tha's his name," Ice Blaze said as he recalled the event prior to his transformation. "Khalil did mention his name."

"Who's Khalil?" asked Hunter.

"He's my maste's psychotic cousin tha' apparently escaped from the mental institution," answered Ice Blaze.

"Can you explain everything that has happened before you came here?" asked Hunter.

"I'll do my best," Ice Blaze replied. "But I have to tell you tha' all this stuff happened within a couple of days. Are you ready for a long tale?"

"I didn't know you had a long tail," Hunter said with a shocked expression on his face.

"Not again!" Ice Blaze mentally screamed before saying aloud, "No, I meant a long story."

Hunter nodded his head, signifying that he understands what Ice Blaze had said and motioned for him to begin his story. Ice Blaze nodded his head and recalled everything that has happened, starting with the trip to the park.

Back in the hospital room in the infirmary, J slowly regained consciousness. He began to make groaning sounds, which brought Colleen's attention to full alertness as she looked at the teenager. J gradually opened his eyes and noticed that he is in a hospital room.

"Where…am I?" he asked weakly.

"You're in Road Rovers Mission Control guv," replied Colleen. "How are you feeling?"

J turned his head slowly and saw Colleen sitting in a chair that was placed next to his bed. She stood up and felt his forehead.

"I feel like I have been hit by one of the trains of the tallest, fastest coaste' in the world at full force…twice," replied J.

"That bad huh?" she said.  
J nodded his head in agreement.

"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" she asked.

"If you promise to not hit me, then sure," agreed J.

"How did you get those injuries on your body?" asked Colleen.

"Me n' Ice Blaze was in the park enjoyin' ourselves when a group of ninjas attacked us," answered J. "You may think this is a fantasy, but it is real."

"I believe you," replied Colleen. "Did you see the faces of these ninjas?"

"No, the only thing tha' I saw were their eyes," J said as he used two fingers on his right hand and pointed them under his eyes.

"What did you do?" asked Colleen.

J began to explain everything that happened from the attack to now to Colleen as she sat and listened intently to everything he said. Just as J finished his story, Hunter's voice came through Colleen's communicator.

"Colleen, are you there?" Hunter asked.

"I'm here Huntie Wuntie," answered Colleen.

"Can you come over to the briefing room for a moment?" he asked.

"I'll be right over," she replied as she looked at J. "Professor Hubert will be in here shortly to check on you."

J nodded as she rose to her feet and headed out of the room. Colleen headed toward the briefing room where Hunter told her to meet him. Upon entering the briefing room, Colleen saw Hunter, Blitz, Exile, Shag, and Ice Blaze sitting around the table. Colleen noticed the white tiger felosapien.

"Who are you?" Colleen asked the white tiger.

"Name's Ice Blaze," replied the felosapien, offering his hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said as she shook his hand. She then looked at Hunter. "Is there something that you wanted to say?"

"I do," answered Hunter. "It concerns our two guests."

"Da comrade," Exile joined in. "They're both victims of evil man Parvo."

"I know," Colleen said. "J told me."

The mention of J's name got Ice Blaze's attention.

"How is he?" asked the white tiger with concern.

"He is fine," she answered, relieving the tiger's concern over his friend. "He was cut really badly, and we had to stitch up all of his wounds from your encounter with those ninjas."

"Tha's good to hear," Ice Blaze said with a sigh of relief. "May I see him?"

"Sure," she said as she got up from her seat. "I'll take you to him."

"Thanks," Ice Blaze said.

"You're welcome luv," Colleen replied as she began to lead Ice Blaze to the infirmary. "I'll be back in a moment."

Everyone else nodded their heads as they watched Colleen and Ice Blaze head toward the infirmary so that the white tiger can see his friend. When they were out of sight, Hunter turned toward the others.

"What are we going to do comrade Hunter?" asked Exile.

"I have an idea, but let's wait until Colleen gets back from the infirmary," said Hunter.

"Yah let's wait for the pretty girlie dog to get back," Blitz said.

At the infirmary, Professor Hubert left J's room just as Colleen and Ice Blaze arrived at the infirmary. Professor Hubert noticed the white tiger and almost dropped some the medical supplies that he was holding.

"Oh my," said Professor Hubert.

"Don't worry I'm harmless," Ice Blaze reassured the startled bloodhound. "I'm here to see my maste'."

"Master?" asked a confused bloodhound.

"His owner was once a human before his cousin mutated him into a canosapien," Colleen said.

"I see," said Professor Hubert. "Would you like to see him?"

"Yes, please," said Ice Blaze, who is eager to see his friend after being separated from him for a bit.

"He's through that door there," Professor Hubert said, pointing to the door to J's room.

Ice Blaze nodded his head and entered into the room. Colleen left the infirmary and went back to the briefing room. Inside J's room, Ice Blaze took a seat beside J's bed.

"How're you feelin'?" Ice Blaze asked, placing a hand on J's shoulder.

"I feel fine now, jus' a lil' tired," J replied with weak chuckle. "They're goin' to observe me tonight n' hopefully I'll be outta here tomorrow."

"Tha's good to here," Ice Blaze said.

"So wha' happened to you man?" J asked curious about what happened to his friend.

Ice Blaze described everything that has happened to him since they split up when the chase began. After Ice Blaze finished his tale, J told his side of the story. After sharing their stories, they began to talk about various things before they fell asleep.


	9. New Heroes on the Block

Chapter 9: New Heroes on the Block

The next day, the Rovers came to J's room to see how he was feeling. A moment later, Professor Hubert came to let J know that he is released from the infirmary. J, with some help from Ice Blaze, got up from the bed. He goes to a chair and picked up his ripped and stained t-shirt. He then put the shirt on. The Rovers took the teenaged duo to the briefing room.

"Wha' are we doin' here?" asked J.

"It's a surprise," said Colleen with a wink.

"Well, I do like surprises," Ice Blaze said before adding, "The good kind, not the bad kind."

"Don't worry comrade it's the good kind," Exile assured the two.

Before J could ask his question, the doors behind the podium opened, revealing a bright white light, causing J and Ice Blaze to shield their eyes. A person emerged from the light. The person was white male in his 40s with white hair and white eyes that glow, wearing a white suit.

"Hello J and Ice Blaze," greeted the man with a warm smile on his face.

"How did you kno' our names?" asked J.

"The Rovers told me about your run in with General Parvo, and I'm truly sorry for what had happened to you two," the man said. "Please call me Master."

"Thank you for your concerns Master," said Ice Blaze. "So wha's the surprise?"

The Master chuckled before saying, "Well, after talking to the other Rovers about what had happened to you and the encounter they had with you two, I would like to extend an invitation for you two to join the Road Rovers."

The news surprised both J and Ice Blaze, and the two looked at each other and then back at the Master.

"Can you give us a moment to discuss this?" J asked.

"Sure," replied Master.

J and Ice Blaze huddled together to conference among themselves.

"Wha' do you think Blaze?" asked J.

"I say we go for it," replied Ice Blaze. "Tha' is if you're up for it."

"If I can balance between work, school, n' band, then this should be fine wit' me," said J as he turned back to Master. "We talked 'bout it n' decided to join."

The Master smiled at the two teens and nodded his head. All the Rovers congratulated them as well. They took J and Ice Blaze on a tour of the facility, starting with the briefing room. They showed the duo the recreation room, the café, motor pool, the lab, the infirmary, the rooms, and the luge and the transdogmifier room. After the tour, everyone went to the recreation room to get to know the two better.

The recreation room is a large room with various tables throughout the room. A door on the left side led to a pool hall. In the center of the room, there were a group of couches in a circle. Another door on the right side of the room led to the television room.

"So J," Hunter began. "How old are you?"

"Well, I'm 17 years old," he replied. "I'm currently a junior in high school, n' I work at a theme park resort."

"Wow, that must be fun," said Colleen.

"It is, but it can also be very, very deadly," said J.

"How so?" asked Exile.

"He's accident prone," Ice Blaze said. "I was there when this one particula' incident happened. They were workin' on Top Thrill Racers…"

"Who's they?" interrupted Blitz.

"Oh, I should've mentioned tha' I worked at a ride manufacturin' company," said J. "I'm one of the founders of the company too." He then looked at the tiger. "Lemme take ove'. Well anyway, our crew was workin' on Top Thrill Racers, n' we were addin' a set of stairs to the side of the track at the top of the left towe'. I was at the top workin' on attachin' the stairway to the towe'. Once I got it attached, I got up from where I was n' slipped off the stairway, fallin' toward the ground. Luckily, I was still attached to the cables tha' were still connected at the top. The cables yanked on my body, dislocatin' both my shoulders out of place. I was jus' glad to be alive."

"Yeah, he lives to tell the tale," Ice Blaze said.

"What about you comrade Ice Blaze?" asked Exile. "Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?"

"Well I was born an orphan when J's fathe' discovered me," said Ice Blaze. "N' eve' since, I was wit' J as his pet n' friend."

"Whatever happened to your parents J?" asked Colleen.

"My mom died a couple of months afte' me n' my sister were born, n' my dad died when we were 3 years old from a lion attack 'cause he was a safari photographer," J said sadly as his ears drooped a bit from the sad memories.

"I'm sorry about, brining that subject up luv," Colleen apologized.

"It's okay, you wanted to kno' tha' was all," J said. "Besides, I was able to become successful throughout my life so far."

"You were always the optimist of the group," Ice Blaze said.

"Not always Blaze," J said. "You know I sometimes have those pessimistic moments."

"True, true," Ice Blaze agreed while nodding his head.

After a while, everyone decided that it was getting late. They all got up and left the recreation room. Hunter volunteered to show J and Ice Blaze the room they'll be staying for the night until they get their own rooms.

"Here's your room for the night you two," said Hunter as he opened the door to the room.

The room was a large room with two king sized beds on either side of a night table. On the night table was a lamp, a digital alarm clock, and a phone. On the left side of the room was a dresser. A table with a couple of chairs sat against the wall. Next to the door they entered through was another dresser with a television sitting on top of it. On the other side of the room was a door leading to the bathroom.

"If you two need anything, just give us a scream," said Hunter. "I hope you enjoy your stay here." He left the two alone as he headed to his room.

"As long as we don't wake up in the fifth dimension, I'll be fine," said J as he and Ice Blaze entered the room and closed the door.

Ice Blaze walked to the bed on the left side of the night table and laid down on it.

"Man this is soft. Softe' than the blanket I usually sleep on back at the Towe'," said Ice Blaze as he got back up, looking at his friend chuckle and shaking his head.

"I imagine so," J said as he sat on the bed that was on the right side of the night table and grabbed the remote that was also lying on the night table. "I wonde' wha's on TV."

J turned the television on and began to channel surf through various channels that was available. After surfing through all the channels and nothing to watch at the moment, J turned off the television and turned his head toward the white tiger, seeing that the big cat has already fallen asleep. Shaking his head, J carefully stretched out his arm and turned off the lamp. He slid under the covers and slowly drifted off into sleep.

The next morning, Ice Blaze got out of the bed, yawning and stretching. He walked around the bed and noticed two boxes near the door with their names on them and a note. He picked up the note and read it:

_The Rovers wanted you two_

_to have these because_

_of the poor conditions of_

_your clothing. I hope these fit._

_Best wishes,_

_Master_

After Ice Blaze read the message, he opened the box with his name on it and saw that it was a Road Rover uniform similar to the others. He grabbed the box and headed toward the bathroom to take a shower.

Once in the bathroom, Ice Blaze took off the pants that he had used and stepped into the shower. He closed the door behind him and turned on the water. The warm water rained down onto his fur, and he let the water run through his body.

"Now I kno' why J takes 30 minute showers," Ice Blaze said with a chuckle as he began to wash his body of all the dirt from the past few days.

Once he got through rinsing himself off, he turned off the water and got out of the shower. He grabbed one of the towels and wrapped it around his waist. He walked over to the sink and wiped the condensation off the mirror. He then noticed his reflection of his new felosapien form for the first time. He checked out his entire muscular body for a few moments. After checking himself out, he realized from most his baths that he had taken when was a regular cat J had a blow dryer to dry off his fur faster. Ice Blaze scanned the counter for a blow dryer, but he couldn't find one. He turned around and noticed that next to the shower was a shower sized compartment with various vents on the inside. He walked over to the compartment, opened the door, and stepped into it. He saw a button and pushed it. A gust of warm air began to blow through the vent ducts, drying the white tiger's fur in the process. After a minute, the vents shut off, and Ice Blaze stepped out of the dryer. He went back to the box and removed all of the contents that were in the box.

"Now here comes the tricky part," Ice Blaze said as he grabbed a pair of boxers that were included with the uniform and putting them on.


	10. Case of the Missing Rover

Chapter 10: Case of the Missing Rover

After a few minutes, Ice Blaze was clothed in his new uniform. He walked out of the bathroom and noticed that J has gone missing.

"Maybe he went to the café," thought Ice Blaze as he left the room to get some breakfast.

Upon entering the café, Ice Blaze saw all the other Rovers but not J. Ice Blaze scratched his head in confusion as he walked over to the where Hunter and the others were sitting and enjoying their breakfast. Ice Blaze sat down at the table with the others.

"Morning Ice Blaze," greeted Hunter.

"Morning luv," greeted Colleen.

"Comrade Ice Blaze, did you saw enough trees?" asked Exile.

"Saw enough trees?" Ice Blaze said with confusion on his face before he thought of the actual phrase. "Yeah, I did. Did any of y'all seen J? He was in bed when I woke up, but afte' I came out of the showe' he was gone."

"I haven't seen him," said Colleen.

"Re reither," said Shag who was still cooking breakfast.

"We'll help you look for him," Hunter said as he got up.

"But what about finishing breakfast?" Blitz whined as he reluctantly got up from his seat to join everyone else in the search.

"It has to wait Blitz," Hunter said as he headed toward the doorway that leads to the hallway. "All right team let's search for J."

All the Rovers howled while Ice Blaze let out a roar, making Blitz jump and land in the arms of Colleen.

"I didn't know you cared that much for me Colleen," Blitz said with smug look on his face until he was dropped onto the ground by the collie.

Everyone left the café in search of J. They began to search in the motor pool, but there was no sign of him there. They continued their search throughout the rest of the facility but to no avail. There was only one place left to search in the facility.

"Let's check out the training facility," said Hunter.

"You didn't mention anything 'bout a training facility," Ice Blaze said as he walked next to Hunter.

"We forgot to show you two that area," said Hunter a little embarrassed.

They got to the training facility. They went to an area where there were various exercise equipment, including punching bags. They looked around the gym area, and Colleen heard a lot of hitting of a bag. She headed toward the sound and found J, without his shirt on, punching and kicking at a bag.

J performed a round-house kick at the top. He then punched with his right fist first then his left, sending the bag flying backwards as far as it can go. As it returned, J jumps and used both of his feet to kick it at the center, but when he did that move, a surge of pain went through his body, making him clutch his chest and breathing heavily. While he was clutching his chest, the bag swung back knocked him onto his back.

"You shouldn't be pushing yourself like that guv," Colleen said as she walked over and helped J to his feet. "You'll end up opening your wounds again."

J sighed and hanged his head in defeat while still breathing really hard. Once his breathing slowed down to normal, J and Colleen joined the others at the entrance of the training facility.

"I found him near the bags," Colleen said.

"Sorry for worryin' y'all," J apologized. "I needed to release my ange' somehow, n' since there were no video games around I chose the next best thing."

"Yeah, n' nearly messin' your body again," Ice Blaze said. "Man, Melanie was right 'bout you. All book sense with no hint of common sense."

"Oh, now you gotta bring her into the mix, huh?" J said, rolling his eyes.

"Who's Melanie?" asked Blitz.

"She's the mothe' hen of the family," replied J as everyone began to leave the training facility and head toward the café.

"No she's not J," Ice Blaze defended.

"Uh…yes she is," J said. "She jus' doesn't display it when you're around."

"Say, are you two gents hungry?" Colleen said as she tried to avert an argument from occurring.

At the mention of food, J and Ice Blaze mouths began to water.

"Race you there," they said in unison before dashing down the hallway toward the café.

"Yet another unexpected twist," said Hunter.

"It seems that it doesn't take much to motivate our comrades," said Exile as he watched the two teenagers race to breakfast.

At the café, Ice Blaze ran into the room with J coming in a few seconds later, heaving in a lot of air. Ice Blaze walked over to where the food was served and grabbed two plates, while J dragged his self over to the table where the other Rovers had left their food and sat down. The other Rovers entered the café and sat at the table with J, who has a smile on his face and laughing.

"You kno'," he began still laughing. "I neve' learn my lesson sometimes."

Ice Blaze returned with two plates of food. He placed one plate in front of J and placed another in the space next to his. Ice Blaze sat down next to J, and they began to inhale all the food that was on their plates. All the other Rovers watched the two with shocked expressions on their faces as the two teens were cleaning their plates. After that feeding frenzy, both J and Ice Blaze let out a sigh of relief from getting real food into their systems.

"Sorry 'bout tha' we jus' haven't eaten for a while now," said Ice Blaze, picking up his and J's plate and taking it to the kitchen that it can get cleaned.

J got up from his seat and was about to leave when he was interrupted by Exile.

"Comrade J, where are going?"

"I'm goin' to my room so tha' I can showe' and get changed," he replied, continuing to leave but was stopped by Colleen.

"You need some fresh bandages when you finish taking your shower," she said. "Let me get you some bandages."

"Thanks Colleen," J said as he followed her to the infirmary to get the bandages.


	11. Back to Where It Started

Chapter 11: Back to Where It Started

An hour later, everyone with the exception of J was in the recreation room, playing a card game. After a few rounds of blackjack, J entered the recreation in his Road Rover uniform. He walked over to the table where everyone was at and took a seat between Blitz and Exile.

"Hey, wha' are ya'll playin'?" he asked.

"We're playing blackjack," replied Hunter. "Do you want to play?"

"I got a bette' card game tha' we can play," said J. "I play it all the time in high school."

"What's the game?" asked Blitz.

"It's called Bull," said J with sly smile on his face.

"How do you play it?" asked Exile.

"It's a simple game," said J as he began to explain the rules to the group.

After the explanation, the card game was underway. Throughout the game, Blitz kept getting caught in his lies by J, which made him the loser in every game they played. No one was able to catch J in his lies, but everyone else caught someone in a lie, or they would make the assumption that someone was lying but were actually telling the truth. While they were playing, the Master's voice came over the PA system.

"Attention Rovers. Report to the briefing room immediately," his voice rang throughout the recreation room.

Everyone left the recreation room and entered the briefing. Everyone took a seat around the table. The Master appeared from behind the podium, and a map showing the state of New Mexico is displayed on the screen next to the podium.

"Rovers," began Master. "Our satellites have picked up more canomutant activities at various plants throughout the state. We don't know what Parvo is planing or where his base is located. All we know is that he needs to be stopped."

"Master," Ice Blaze said with hand raised. "I believe I know where his base is at."

"You do?" asked Master with interest.

"I believe so 'cause we have escaped from his base," said Ice Blaze. "I think I can remembe' where it is if I go."

"Lemme go as well sir," J said. "I may be injured, but I may help Blaze wit' findin' the direction to the forest, then he can take it from there."

"Yeah tha' part is still foggy to me," Ice Blaze said.

"I usually don't let new recruits go on missions on their first day, but in your case, I'll make an exception," said Master.

"All right gang," Hunter began as he stood up. "We're dogs…"

"N' cat," Ice Blaze interjected.

"And cat with a mission," continued Hunter. "We're…"

"Road Rovers," everyone cried out as they let out a howl while Ice Blaze roared.

Everybody headed toward the motor pool and boarded the black jet that J and Ice Blaze stowed away in earlier. Once on board, everyone took a seat. Hunter and Exile took the pilot and co-pilot seats respectively, while Colleen was behind Hunter and Blitz behind Exile. J sat behind Colleen, and Ice Blaze was behind Blitz. Shag was with a Rottweiler that was restrained in a straitjacket, muzzled, and strapped to gurney in the back.

"Welcome to the Turbojet Rover you two," Hunter said. "Now, which way is it?"

"Head back to tha' gas station you stopped at earlie'," Ice Blaze said as he got up from his seat and stood between the pilot and copilot seats to get a better view.

Once the Turbojet Rover reached the gas station, Ice Blaze then pointed toward the direction of the woods that he and J hid in for the night. Five minutes passed before they arrived at the woods. Ice Blaze told Hunter to circle around the woods to figure out where to turn. Once he got the bearings of the woods, he told Hunter that the base was in a southeast direction from the woods. Hunter directed the Turbojet Rover in the direction that Ice Blaze said. They got past the woods and encountered the desert.

"I suggest we land here," Ice Blaze said.

"Why? We're in the middle of nowhere," Blitz complained.

"There's a secret passage tha' leads into the base," replied Ice Blaze. "N' before y'all ask me how I kno', a friend from inside told me 'bout it."

"We'll take your word for it, Blaze," Hunter said as began to land the aircraft onto the sandy ground of the desert.

Once the Turbojet Rover landed, the door to the jet opened. Everyone began to get out of their seat and leave the aircraft, but before J could leave, Hunter stopped him.

"I think it would be better if you stay here and guard the jet," Hunter said. "We don't want you to reopen your wounds."

"A'ight," J replied, nodding his with a disappointed look on his face and turned back toward the cabin of the jet.

"Alright Ice Blaze," Colleen said, looking at the white tiger. "Where's the hidden passageway?"

Ice Blaze got down to the ground and begins to sniff the ground for a scent, but he ended up getting a nose full of sand. He stood up and began sneezing, sending all the sand back out.

"Okay, I won't be tryin' tha' again," Ice Blaze noted, once he got all the sand out of his nose. He began to sniff the air for his scent and finally caught it. He began to follow the scent until he stopped.

"Why did you stop comrade?" asked Exile with a confused expression on his face.

"It's here," said Ice Blaze.

"What's here?" asked Hunter.

"The secret passageway into Parvo's base," replied Ice Blaze as he got down on his knees and began to dig through the sand.

The other Rovers followed suit, uncovering the door to the secret passageway in a matter of a minute. Once they got to the door, Colleen used her martial arts skills to open door. Once opened, the group descended down the ladder and into the dimly lit hallway. They began to follow the LED lights on the floor to guide them. They got to the end of the hallway and stopped.

"Hey Blaze, what's behind this door?" Hunter asked in a whisper.

"The lab where I was mutated," Ice Blaze replied in a whisper.

Everyone placed their ears against the door to make sure that no one was in there. There was no sound coming from behind the wall. They decided that the coast was clear, and Exile opened the door to reveal the lab.

The lab was the same as it was before J and Ice Blaze escaped, but the damaged computer terminals have been fixed and are operational again. Everything else in the lab seemed to be in order.

After a quick scan of the lab, the Rovers crossed the room toward the door. Hunter took a quick peek through the rectangular glass window. He saw no one and turned toward the group.

"Alright gang," he began. "Let's move in and be careful. We don't wanna get spotted by anyone in here."

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Hunter opened the door, and everyone snuck out of the doorway and into the hallway. Once in the hallway, they began to walk around the facility in search of the command center of the facility.


	12. He'll Never Learn

Chapter 12: He'll Never Learn

Back in the Turbojet Rover, J sat in one of the seats with his elbow propped up on the arm rest; hand against his head with a bored expression on his face. He let out a sigh and looked around the jet but found nothing that would interest him. He then looked at the door that leads outside.

"Must resist temptation," J said aloud. "Hunter said not to leave here."

J tried his hardest to resist, but the temptation got the best of him. He got up from his seat and began to stagger a bit. Once he got his balance, he exited the jet and headed toward the entrance to secret passageway.

Once he descended down the ladder, J went through the dark hallway, while having his right hand against the wall, feeling his way toward the end of the hallway. He entered the hallway and grimaced from the painful memories of this place. He left the lab and noticed two hallways.

"I wonde'," J thought as he began to sniff the air and noticed the scents of the Rovers and Ice Blaze. "I bette' not go tha' way n' risked gettin' spotted by the others."

J headed down the left hallway. His footsteps echoed throughout the hallway, which put him on alert, and he hoped that no one spotted him. He continued down the hallway and noticed a sign that reads: COMPUTER ROOM: AUTHORIZED ACCESS ONLY. He opened the door and entered.

Upon entering the room, J saw numerous computer terminals that are either on the wall or in rows in the center of the room. He proceeded toward a terminal, but he didn't notice the laser beam near the floor. His foot broke the beam, sounding an alarm. He quickly looked down and noticed the beam.

"Oh man," he said as he quickly ran out of the room.

On the other side of the facility, the Rovers were heading down a hallway when the alarm sounded.

"Who set off the alarm?" asked Hunter, looking at the group.

"It wasn't me," Blitz said, shrugging his shoulders.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So much for the surprise element," Exile said.

Everyone had their guard up and began running down the hallway, trying to avoid any confrontation of canomutants.

J continued to run down the hallway when he encountered three canomutants. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh snap," he thought as he backed up.

While he was backing up, he bumped into a canomutant janitor that was sweeping the hallway with a broom. The broom fell onto the floor. J used his right foot and kicked the broom up to his right hand. He caught the broom and twirled it with the brush end facing the three canomutants. He twirled it again until the brush met the ground again. He kicked the brush off the broomstick, making a make-shift staff.

The canomutants, including the janitor, began to gang up on J. J slammed the staff down onto the ground. J quickly shoved the staff backwards into the janitor canomutant's chest, knocking the wind out of it. J then brought the staff up and connected it to the middle canomutant's chin, making it lose its balance. In one quick motion, J swung the staff against the left canomutant's head, causing the canomutant to hit the wall and fall unconscious. The other canomutant grabbed the staff away from J and threw a punch at J. J quickly jumped onto the canomutant's extended arm and kicked him directly in the face, knocking him unconscious. J landed on his feet and caught the staff that flew out of the canomutant's hand.

He walked off leaving the unconscious canomutants. As he reached an intersection, he heard a familiar voice.

"Well, well, well. Wha' do we have here?" said the voice.

J stopped and turned his head to his left, seeing his cousin standing near the entrance of one of the hallways, holding a pair of nunchucks.

"I waited a long time for this moment cuz," said Khalil, looking directly at J.

J lowered his staff in front of him and began to move to his right, while Khalil moved to his left.

"As you can see cuz," began Khalil. "I have been studyin' the ancient but also deadly art of the nunchaku."

Khalil held them up and twirled the nunchucks around his body, displaying his mastery, while J looked on with a bored expression, leaning against the staff. Khalil finally stopped twirling the nunchucks with one of the ends behind his back.

"Oh…you done now?" J asked sarcastically, while still leaning on the staff.

J twirled the staff in front of him, pointing one end of the staff at Khalil, while Khalil began to twirl the nunchucks in the air. They circled each other, staring each other down. J began to charge at Khalil, raising and dropping the staff toward Khalil's head. Khalil repelled the blow with the nunchucks, causing J to bring back the staff. The fight between the two cousins continued.

The Rovers made it out of the base's perimeter and rushed back toward the Turbojet Rover. They had a few encounters of canomutants, but they took care of them real easy. Once they got close to the aircraft, they slowed down their pace. They entered the aircraft, but they noticed that J wasn't anywhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?" asked Exile, looking around the aircraft.

"I bet he went into the base," Ice Blaze said.

"I'm going back there," Hunter said as he turned around to exit out of the aircraft.

"I'm goin' wit' you Hunter," Ice Blaze said. "Beside you probably gonna need some muscle when you encounte' those canomutants."

"Alright," Hunter agreed. "We'll be back soon."

Hunter and Ice Blaze left the Turbojet Rover and headed back to the base via the secret passageway. A few minutes later, they arrived at the lab. They entered the hallway, and Ice Blaze began to sniff the air for J's scent. He caught the scent, and he and Hunter began to follow J's scent trail. They arrived at the computer room, and Ice Blaze took a peek in. He looked down on the floor and noticed the laser beam.

"Well we now kno' who tripped the alarm," said Ice Blaze as he brought his head out of the doorway.

They continued down the hallway and noticed the unconscious bodies of the four canomutants from earlier and the broken brush of the broom. They continued to follow the scent for few more minutes until they reached a door. Ice Blaze and Hunter got up against the door and heard someone talking.

On the other side of the door, Khalil has J tied up in a chair.

"Oh, this is truly a happy day…for me tha' is," Khalil said with a twisted smile on his face. "This has got to be the worst day of your life is it cuz?"

"Oh, can it Khalil," said J, glaring at his cousin.

After J said that, Ice Blaze kicked down the door with sheer force, knocking the door off its hinges. Hunter and Ice Blaze rushed in. In the midst of the confusion, Khalil quickly escaped, while Ice Blaze and Hunter untied J. Once J was freed, J looked around the room for Khalil, but he then realized that his cousin had escaped. J let out a defeating sigh and looked at Hunter and Ice Blaze who had disapproving looks on their faces. Hunter left the room without a word. J looked at Ice Blaze.

"Thanks for comin' back n' savin' me man," J said thankfully, but Ice Blaze just growled and slapped J upside his head. "Ow! Wha' was tha' for? You could easily give me brain damage!"

"Oh, I'll give you brain damage a'ight," Ice Blaze said as he slapped J upside his head again as they walked out of the room.

Once they were outside, the three Rovers were venturing back to the Turbojet Rover.

"Well I hope you learned a lesson," Hunter said.

"Yeah," J said with a smirk slowly emerging on his muzzle. "Don't get the tiger mad or else you'll get brain damage."

This comment earned J another slap upside his head by Ice Blaze.

"See wha' I mean?"

"Tha's not the lesson he was talkin' 'bout," said Ice Blaze. "He means tha' you shouldn't ignore orders, or you're more than likely get you furry butt captured. Jus' like now."

"N' by the time we get back to the Turbojet Rover, I'll forget all 'bout this lil' lesson," J said as he turned his head and looked back toward the building and noticed Khalil in the distance. He stopped and turned toward the building. "Speakin' of lessons…can y'all hang on for a sec? I need to teach someone a lesson."

Hunter and Ice Blaze stopped and turned, watching J rush toward Khalil, who was also charging towards him. They both took a running jump, but J's kick made contact to Khalil's face first, sending Khalil flying backwards toward the ground. Khalil hit the ground hard and fell unconscious. J carefully bent down and grabbed Khalil's legs. He stood up and dragged Khalil's body back toward Hunter and Ice Blaze. He arrived back toward the group.

"I can't leave a place without a souvenir," J said with a toothy smile on his face. "Can y'all help me wit' this?"

Hunter and Ice Blaze each grabbed one of Khalil's arms, and they carried Khalil's body back to the Turbojet Rover. Once they reached the aircraft, they handcuffed Khalil's wrist and placed in him in the back with Ice Blaze keeping a close eye on the teenager. Hunter got into the pilot seat and started up the Turbojet Rover. The aircraft lifted off the ground. Once it is in the air, Hunter pointed the aircraft in the direction of Road Rover Mission Control.


	13. Homecoming

Chapter 13: Homecoming

After a 45 minute flight, the Turbojet Rover made its descent through the giant hole and into the tropical paradise that was located beneath the barren surface. They entered the hangar through a retractable ceiling, and Hunter landed the aircraft and parked it in an aircraft parking space.

The door to the aircraft opened. Everyone proceeded out of the aircraft with Ice Blaze carrying Khalil's unconscious body over his shoulder as they headed toward the briefing room. Once in the briefing room, the Rovers gave their report about the base to Master.

"You have done well Rovers," Master said. "Even though one of you did disregard orders, you're all good, good dogs…"

Ice Blaze placed his free hand over his mouth and coughed.

"And cat," added Master. "Besides, who is that Ice Blaze?"

"Tha' is my cousin, Khalil," J replied. "He works for Parvo."

"I see," Master said. "Well we better take him to the holding cell until we contact local authorities."

"Make sure you send him to a high security mental institution 'cause he flew ove' a cuckoo clock," J said as his left hand went over his head.

Ice Blaze handed Khalil over to Exile because Ice Blaze needed to ask J a question. He walked over to the canosapien and tapped him on the shoulder. J turned around towards the white tiger felosapien.

"Wha' is it?" J asked. "You wanna smack me upside the head again?"

"No," Ice Blaze said, shaking his head. "Wha' are we gonna do 'bout home?"

"Tha's right," J exclaimed. "Melanie n' everyone else at the Tower are probably worried 'bout us bein' gone."

Master and the remaining Rovers overheard the two teens' conversation. They quietly discussed the situation among themselves for a few minutes before getting J and Ice Blaze's attention. J and Ice Blaze looked at the Rovers.

"We heard about your situation," Hunter said, looking at the two. "We discussed amongst ourselves any possible solutions, but we couldn't come up with anything. Do you two have any ideas?"

"Actually, I do," J said. "Since I'm currently in high school, I can't be on duty durin' the school year, but once it is summer vacation, I can be on duty. I can handle all the work at the Resort at anytime, includin' stuff at Unown-Aero."

"As for me," Ice Blaze said. "I'll probably go to high school wit' J n' at least get an education."

"But how are you going to get here during your summer vacation?" Colleen asked.

"The Pipeline," J and Ice Blaze said together.

"What's the Pipeline?" asked Hunter.

"The Pipeline is our form of transportation from one place to anothe'," J said. "It is actually a high speed underground roller coaster wit' a limo themed coaster train wit' a state-of-the-art sound system built in. We usually use it to get to school n' avoid all the afte' school traffic in the afternoon."

"That's an interesting idea," Master said.

"But I do see one problem wit' tha' J," Ice Blaze said. "How are we goin' to get enough steel to make a complete course? It was easy to make a course from the Resort to the school."

"You're right, Blaze," J said, realizing the issue at hand. "If only we could build somethin' tha' make it convenient for us to use less steel but still give us a quick trip."

"What about that portal gate that Professor Hubert is working on?" Colleen asked.

"The portal gate is a progress work comrade Colleen," Exile stated.

"But tha' portal gate would solve the problem, n' we would like to be the first ones to test the technology for y'all," J said.

"Why would you do that?" Blitz questioned J.

"He's his own guinea pig," Ice Blaze answered. "At Unown-Aero, when they're workin' on new rides or ride vehicles for attractions, some of 'em would be real-life test dummies n' test the prototypes."

"Tha's actually true," J said, nodding his head in agreement. "So, how long have y'all been workin' on this project?"

"A full yearski comrade," Exile replied. "We're making slowly progress, but we're getting close to having prototype completed."

"I think I have an idea," J said. "Does the portal require two portal gates for it to operate?"

"Da comrade," Exile said.

"Good," said J. "'Cause my idea needs two portal gates for it to work."

"We're all ears," Hunter said.

"Well my idea is this," began J. "Why don't we build two separate Pipeline tracks: one here, n' the othe' one at home, which will undergo some modifications. At the end of each of these tracks, there will be a portal gate tha' will…"

"Transport the train from one place to another without using a lot of steel," finished Master.

"Exactly," J said. "But buildin' the courses n' modifyin' the track at home will take time. Tha' way y'all can still finish workin' on the prototypes while we work on the track work for the Pipeline."

After everyone agreed on J's idea, J and Ice Blaze left the briefing room and headed to their room, while the Rovers left for the lab to discuss the idea to Professor Hubert. Once in the room, J sat on the bed and picked up the telephone that was sitting on the night table. He began to dial a number. Ice Blaze reclined on the bed, watching TV when he saw J on the phone.

"Who are you phonin'?" Ice Blaze asked.

"I'm phonin' home," J answered as he heard the phone ringing in the receiver.

The phone kept on ringing for a few more seconds until someone answered the phone.

"Hello?" the voice that belonged to a female teenager answered the phone.

"Hey sis, it's me," J said as he laid himself onto the bed slowly to avoid any pain.

"J? Is tha' you?" Melanie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, it's me," he replied.

"Where are you?" she asked with concern in her voice. "I've been so worried 'bout you."

"Don't worry. We're in a safe place."

"We? Is Ice Blaze wit' you?"

"Yeah he is. You wanna speak to him?"

"Sure."

J handed the phone to Ice Blaze and gave the felosapien a wink, while saying, "I wish I can see the look on her face when she hears you speak for the first time."

Ice Blaze chuckled as he took the phone and spoke.

"Hey Melanie."

"Who is this?"

"It's me…Ice Blaze."

"J get off the phone n' let me talk to Ice Blaze."

"I hate to break it to ya, but you're not talkin' to J. You really are talkin' to the tiger."

"If you're really Ice Blaze, then wha' does J usually mutte' afte' we have a disagreement as he goes to his room wit' you by his side?"

"Sorry, but I'm not a snitch. I'm not goin' to tell you wha' he said."

"Okay, then tell me wha' do you always do to Rob when he annoys you?"

"I turn him into my personal scratchin' post."

"It is you."

"Told ya so."

After conversing for a few minutes and retelling the events that happened, J and Ice Blaze said goodnight to Melanie, and they went to sleep. The next morning at breakfast J and Ice Blaze asked Hunter if he could take them back to the park where they had been captured. Hunter agreed, and the other Rovers, with the exception of Blitz, decided to come too.

After breakfast, everyone that was leaving boarded the Turbojet Rover and got into their seats. Hunter started the engines, and the aircraft began its ascent toward the surface. Once they were in the air, Hunter asked J where the park was at.

"We have to cross the ocean," J replied.

"Yeah we live in the land of the risin' sun," Ice Blaze said.

"You two live in Japan!" Hunter exclaimed in surprise. "I would not have predicted this."

"Kinda strange isn't it folks," J said. "Our ride company is American, but it is on Japanese soil. Go figure."

It took them a few hours before they arrived in Japan. Hunter flew throughout the landscape. Ice Blaze looked out the window and noticed the resort.

"Hey J," Ice Blaze called out. "There's Paramount Resort."

Everyone looked out the windows of the aircraft and saw the huge theme park resort on the ground.

"Wow, is that where you two live?" Colleen asked, staring at the massive property with pure amazement.

"Yeah, tha's home for us," replied J as he continued to look down. "N' there's our company right there."

They looked down and saw numerous buildings of varying sizes. Some of the buildings range from office buildings to air force style hangars. There was also a factory facility there as well.

"Wow, that is one big organization down there," said Hunter.

"Yeah, we always build all of our parts for our attractions on site. Tha' way we can ensure the quality of the parts," J said.

"Comrade, you know so much about this company, even though you do work here," Exile said. "How do you know all this stuff?"

"I'm one of the founders of the company," J said with a smile creeping onto his face. "Amazin' isn't it?"

Everyone, besides J and Ice Blaze, were looking at J with a shocked expression their faces.

"They get tha' expression a lot," said Ice Blaze. "We can talk 'bout Unown-Aero late' on."

"Right," Hunter said as he recovered from his stupor. "Which way to the park?"

"It's outside of Tokyo," Ice Blaze said. "Just head toward Tokyo and head north."

Hunter did as Ice Blaze instructed him. It took them a couple of minutes to get there. Once they arrived at the park, Hunter found a grassy area to land the Turbojet Rover. Once it landed, Hunter opened the door to let J and Ice Blaze out of the aircraft. Everyone else followed suit as J and Ice Blaze headed toward J's black Hummer H2.

"Is that your car J?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah it is," J said as he reached for the keys within his uniform. "I did some work on it myself."

"Like what?" Exile asked with interest.

"It actually runs on electricity," J said. "N' no it's not a hybrid. I actually converted from a gas guzzle' to an electric guzzle'."

"How were you able to do that?"

"An attraction at the Resort called The Italian Job Stunt Track. One of the most technologically advanced plus eco-friendly attractions in the world."

"I would like to see it sometime comrade."

"Any time Exile. Any time."

J turned off the alarm and unlocked the doors to the Hummer. J and Ice Blaze got in, and J started up the engine. The Rovers got back into the Turbojet Rover. Hunter started up the engines and got it off the ground. In the Hummer, J put the vehicle in reverse and backed out of his parking space. The H2 exited the park with the Turbojet Rover following from above.

It took the Hummer about 30 minutes to arrive at Paramount Studios, the movie theme park located in Paramount Resort. The vehicle pulled into the driveway that leads to the backstage area of the Tower. J parked the vehicle in the garage. J and Ice Blaze got out of the H2 and exited the garage. J closed the door to the garage. They walked over to a set of glass doors that led to the entrance to their home. Next to the doors was a doorbell with an intercom. Ice Blaze pushed the button. A minute passed before Melanie's voice came over the intercom.

"Hello?"

"We're home sis," J said as he spoke into the intercom.

"I'll be down in a moment."

A moment later, a teenaged African American girl came to the door. She had shoulder length hair that was in a pony tail. She wore a white sleeveless t-shirt and a pair of denim shorts. She also had an earring in her right ear. She opened the door and saw the two teenaged anisapiens. She looked at the canosapien first.

"Is tha' you J?"

The canosapien nodded his head and said, "It's me a'ight."

She then looked at the white tiger felosapien.

"Tha' you Blaze?"

"Sure is. C'mon n' give this cat some love."

Melanie rushed over to Ice Blaze and gave him a hug. Ice Blaze returned the hug. After embracing each other for about a minute, Melanie rushed over to J to give him a hug. The force from Melanie, at the time of contact, made J yelp in pain as she landed right on his chest wound.

"I'm sorry J," Melanie apologized to her brother.

"It's okay. You didn't mean to," replied J.

"Let's go inside n' continue this reunion outta this heat," Melanie suggested to which J and Ice Blaze nodded in agreement as they all proceeded into the building to continue the happy reunion.

Inside the Turbojet Rover, Exile was crying his eyes out. He was crying because of the beautiful scene that had occurred down below. Colleen offered him a tissue. Exile accepted the offer and blew his nose. Hunter turned in his seat toward the group.

"Well gang," he began. "We have brought our new friends and allies to their home. I say this is mission accomplished. I think there is one thing left to say before we leave: To the power of the pack!"

All the Rovers let out a howl as the Turbojet Rover turned around and headed back to Mission Control.

A/N: All Road Rovers characters are copyrighted to Warner Bros. Animation 1996-2008. J, Ice Blaze, Melanie, Jeremy, Khalil, Ayame, and Takato belong to me. Dr. Robotnik is copyrighted to SEGA 1991-2008. Paramount Resort and Paramount Studios are fake locations and are not associated with Paramount in anyway. I don't own the Hummer H2. It's the property of General Motors. I don't own The Italian Job. It's property of Paramount. Thank you for the reviews. I hoped you enjoyed episode one. Stay tuned, episode two will be coming soon.


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